Swoopes -- 'ready ... to be free' -- reveals she's gay

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, October 27, 2005

The pressure to perform at a high level on a basketball court is minimal for three-time WNBA Most Valuable Player Sheryl Swoopes compared to determining that the time was right to publicly announce Wednesday she is gay.

"I'm just ready — just to be free, not to have to hide who I am, not to have to hide my feelings anymore," Swoopes said at the St. Regis Hotel, where she was meeting with officials of a travel company she represents.

"I guess this is to let the world know I'm at a point in my life right now where I'm very happy, I'm very content. I've pretty much accomplished everything — and then some — that I ever wanted to accomplish as far as basketball goes, and even off the court, being able to do a lot of things that have always been important to me.

"I'm just happy right now. And I'm tired of having to pretend to be someone that I'm not."

In a recent interview with ESPN The Magazine, Swoopes acknowledged she is gay, and although the magazine was not scheduled to hit newsstands until today, reports of Swoopes' revelations began circulating Wednesday.

Swoopes said she has been involved in a relationship with former Comets assistant coach Alisa Scott since shortly after divorcing Eric Jackson, her high school sweetheart and husband of three years.

Scott said that like Swoopes, she is relieved to have their relationship out in the open.

"I feel like 100 pounds is off my shoulders," Scott said. "I think it was really unhealthy for me, for both of us to have to do this game of hide-and-seek. Or just hiding."

While ethics of their relationship apparently never entered the workplace, Scott left the Comets under pressure before the 2005 season. Head coach Van Chancellor said Scott was released because she had lost authority with the players in executing her duties.

Wednesday's announcement coincides with Swoopes' recently accepting a paid-compensation deal to become a spokesperson for Olivia Travel, a California-based organization that promotes vacation cruises and accommodations for gays and lesbians, said Amy Errett, the group's CEO.

That deal notwithstanding, Swoopes, 34, said she and Scott no longer wanted to endure day-to-day life under the suspicious eyes of American society — an existence they have shared since 1999.

The decision to go public, Swoopes said, was not arrived upon easily.

"Tough is probably an understatement," Swoopes said. "This has probably been one of the toughest decisions that I've ever had to make. And the fact that it's not just me being affected, not just 'Scotty,' you know — it's Scotty's family, my family, my friends, basketball fans, Sheryl Swoopes fans. Hopefully, it won't change to where they're not Sheryl Swoopes fans anymore, they're not WNBA fans anymore."

Not a trail blazer

Swoopes said she doesn't consider herself a pioneer or heroine, nor does she expect her announcement to unleash a flood of similar responses from others in the WNBA.

In September, Swoopes became the first WNBA player to be named MVP three times. She has been a two-time WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and was the leading vote-getter for the All-Star Game in five of the six years it has been held.

Chancellor, who never was told by Swoopes or Scott about the relationship, said he had been aware of Swoopes' impending announcement for several days.

"I've coached Swoopes for nine years for the Houston Comets as well as with the (USA Basketball) national team," Chancellor said. "What she does in her personal life is her own decision.

"To me, she will always be one of the greatest ambassadors for the game of women's basketball and as a person has helped me win four (WNBA) championships and two gold medals."

Chancellor coached Swoopes and the U.S. women's national team to a gold medal at the 2002 World Championships in China and a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. She also was a member of U.S. national teams that won Olympic gold medals at Atlanta in 1996 and Australia in 2000.

Once happily married

Swoopes missed the first 1 1/2 months of the first WNBA season (1997) because of the birth of son,
Jordan Eric Jackson
, who is now 8. Swoopes said it was only when her relationship with Scott deepened that she realized she is a lesbian.

"When (Swoopes and her ex-husband) first started dating and I got married and had my child, I was happily married," Swoopes said. "I never saw this happening, never thought any of this would happen.

"Probably for about the last year, year-and-a-half of my marriage we were just going in different directions. It got to a point to where I knew it was over with and really didn't want to do anything else to make it work.

"And it had nothing to do with me having feelings for another man, me having feelings for another woman. It was time to move on and do something different. It just so happened that when I did get to a point where I was ready to start another relationship, it happened to be with another woman."

Swoopes said that since college, she has known women who were gay and had no real opinion about them or their relationships.

"But it was never to a point to where I was interested in it, or said, 'Maybe this is something that someday I want to do or I want to try,' " she said. "It was just an understanding I had with my friends or they had with me that that was just not what I want to do. I know that it's not what the world accepts or what society accepts. But I think it's unfortunate that people aren't able to live their lives and see who they are, whether that's being with another woman, being with another man.

"I don't think it matters who you're with — people are always going to find something wrong with it. I guess my biggest thing is, as long as I'm happy, I'm not hurting anybody. We're happy to be together, Jordan's happy, (and) he's taken care of. That's the most important thing."

Ever since Swoopes signed to play basketball at Texas in the late 1980s but abruptly left school after just two weeks in Austin, rumors have persisted as to the reasons for her exit.

It was said at the time that she was pregnant and went back to her hometown of Brownfield, near Lubbock, to give birth. Swoopes vehemently has denied that.

It also was said that Swoopes asked Longhorns coach Jody Conradt for a transfer because Swoopes had been inappropriately approached sexually by a female associated with the UT women's basketball program.

Swoopes denies that assertion as well.

"I keep trying to figure out where that came from," she said. "But no, neither one of those is true. Me coming back from Texas, the only reason was because I was homesick.

"I missed my mom. Coming from a very small town, I'm a mama's girl, always been a mama's girl, so I wanted to be closer to home. And at the time, Eric and I were dating, I missed him, and I just wanted to go back closer to home."

Swoopes accepted a scholarship to Texas Tech and led it to the NCAA championship in 1993. She was named national player of the year and eventually became the first female to have a basketball sneaker manufactured (by Nike) under her autograph.

Reaction still to come

At present, Swoopes said, she has exclusive endorsement contracts only with Nike and Olivia. She has spoken with a representative of Nike who, Swoopes said, offered positive responses when told of her impending announcement.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Swoopes had not talked directly with WNBA president Donna Orender but had received positive overtones from others within the organization, she said. Orender did not return calls to the Chronicle on Wednesday afternoon.

Swoopes said she has no idea how Wednesday's announcement might affect her future in the WNBA.

"I think there are a lot of people out there, I don't care whether that's in the WNBA, not in the WNBA, just in life who are dealing with a lot of different issues and don't really know what to do," Swoopes said. "And maybe somebody will look at me coming out and say, 'You know what? If Sheryl Swoopes can do this, I know I can do this.'

"I don't think there's any secret that a huge part of the WNBA fans come from the gay and lesbian community. So, you know, I think there's a possibility that this could bring more fans to the WNBA. And I think that's what it should be about."